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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25175590">Bad Things Happen Bingo Fills</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lurking_Umbra/pseuds/Lurking_Umbra'>Lurking_Umbra</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Penumbra Podcast</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abusive Relationships, Because as sad as admitting it makes me he is already dead, Bespa content in chapter four, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character death is benten, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, F/F, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, In Chapter 10, Jet and Ruby are just in the background, Minor Character Death, Other, Sarah Steel is also in chapter eight, This is also in chapter 8, chapter six also deals with not eating, chapter three features Vespa and Juno being mostly civil with one another, don't question when they happen, for the first chapter, getting closer to a Juno and Vespa friendship, it'll happen some day, not quite friendship but it's close, she's not technically in it but her bad parenting is, these all exist in a vacuum, they just do at some point, warnings for Sarah Steel in chapter six</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:41:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,211</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25175590</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lurking_Umbra/pseuds/Lurking_Umbra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>All of my bad things happen bingo fills, collected in one neat fic. Mostly gen and Jupeter. Chapter titles detail the filled prompt.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Benzaiten Steel &amp; Juno Steel, Buddy Aurinko/Vespa, Jet Sikuliaq &amp; Juno Steel, Juno Steel &amp; Vespa (Penumbra Podcast), Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel, Rita &amp; Juno Steel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>129</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Hypothermia</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Peter had been cold before, it was nearly impossible to travel through the cold vacuum of space and not experience at least a little bit of cold, and before that he had been an orphan on the streets of Brahma. None of that had prepared him for this though, soaking and half frozen after falling through some ice on an ice covered planet. Thankfully Buddy had been thoughtful enough to attach some rope to their thief before he began to cross the ice, allowing Peter to be pulled up quickly when the ice decided that it no longer wanted to hold his weight. Even so, Peter was shivering with just that quick dip, and the wet clothes and freezing wind weren’t helping any.</p><p>Buddy had sent Peter, Juno, and Jet back to the Carte Blanche with the Ruby 7, with orders to get Peter warmed back up before hypothermia could set in while Buddy, Vespa, and Rita tried to figure out a way to get around the ice and to their destination. They were only about halfway to the Ruby 7 when Peter stumbled, only just barely managing to catch himself on his hands and knees before he would have face planted into the snow covered ground. Peter was unsure of if he had made some type of noise or the sound of snow crunching below him alerted his companions as both of them turned around to look at him.</p><p>“You okay there, Ransom?” Juno asked, a slight frown on the lovely lady’s face.</p><p>Peter moved to push himself up to his feet, only to find himself stumbling once more. This time Juno was there to catch him, bracing Peter against his side before slowly helping him rise. Peter’s legs felt like wet noodles, and perhaps a little more numb than he would like. Even more concerning though, was the lack of feeling in his fingers, although Juno’s skin felt like a hot brand where he leaned against him. “I’m perfectly fine, Juno,” he said once he was steady on his feet, though the words came out garbled and slurred. Peter frowned and tried again, his tongue feeling both numb and too big for his mouth.</p><p>“It’s okay Ransom, I got you,” Juno said, interrupting his attempts as he took a step forward. Peter moved with him, even as his legs protested the movement and refused to place his feet quite right. “That’s it,” Juno murmured, moving them forward as fast as he could. “Let’s get you into the Ruby and start getting you warmed up.”</p><p>Jet was already in the car by the time the other two reached it, Ruby whistling in concern as they half sat, half collapsed into the back seat. Peter was exhausted, but his shivering had changed from constant to intermittent, and while he couldn’t recall if that was a good thing or not, at least he felt less like his bones were going to break apart with it. Ruby whistled again and produced a thick, warm blanket, which Juno traded for Peter’s wet jacket and shirt. Peter tried to help as best he could, but found his arm movements to be more of a hindrance than a help. Jet started the car as Peter found himself being pulled sideways into Juno’s lap, the lady’s arms wrapping around the bulky blanket on his torso to hold him closer.</p><p>“What?” Peter slurred, tilting his head to look up at Juno.</p><p>“You’re freezing,” Juno said quietly, as if that explained everything. When Peter continued to stare confusedly at him, he huffed softly. “You just fell into freezing water. Your wet clothes were sapping your heat just as much as the wind, and sharing body heat is supposed to help you get warmer faster.”</p><p>Peter hummed in understanding, settling back into the warmth surrounding him even as his shivering picked back up. He could feel himself slowly warming up under Juno’s care, his extremities that had grown numb tingling as feeling came back to them. He was feeling much warmer and more alert by the time they reached the Carte Blanche, only stumbling a few times as he disembarked from the car and made his way to his room, where he was able to change into drier warmer clothes. Juno continued to hover outside, even after Peter had closed the door on him. Once Peter had changed, he opened the door once more, looking out at the former detective standing awkwardly in the hallway. “Perhaps you would like to… lend your body heat to me once more?” Peter asked hesitantly, not bothering to suppress the shiver that went through him at the cold air of the hallway. Juno looked at him carefully before nodding and making his way into the room, closing the door behind him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You can come send me some requests at lurking-umbra on tumblr if you would like to see more! I have a few there already that I will be cross posting over the next few days.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Betrayal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rita is betrayed by Peter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“It’s betrayal, I tell ya’, betrayal,” Rita whines as she drapes herself over Juno, who ignores her with a skill borne of years of practice. Juno moves to look at the contents of another cabinet, Rita half dragged along with him.</p>
<p>“If it’s such a big betrayal,” Juno says with a sigh before moving over to look into yet another cabinet, “then just watch the damn thing with him.” He moves to put his hands on his hips before remembering that Rita is still a presence on his side and wrapping his arm around her waist instead. Rita didn’t use to be quite so touchy-feely with him, though he wouldn’t have let her either, but now that he’s trying to be a better person, he finds that the physical contact is kind of nice. “The three of us can watch it together even, he and I were going to have a movie night, if I could find the stupid popcorn.”</p>
<p>“Second cabinet to the right, bottom shelf, behind the bag of extra sauces,” Rita offers, pointing to a cabinet on the other side of the kitchen. Juno groans but follows her directions, and Rita allows herself to be pulled over as well, still not letting go of Juno. Juno manages to grab it with a bit of reaching, only made slightly more difficult by the body draped against him.</p>
<p>“Rita?” Juno asks, looking down at her when she’s been quiet for too long.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to impose on you two or nothin’,” Rita explains.</p>
<p>Juno rolls his eye and lets go of the popcorn to pull Rita into an actual hug.</p>
<p>“You’re getting a lot better at this, boss,” Rita says, rearranging herself so that she can snuggle into his chest properly.</p>
<p>“Gee, thanks,” Juno says with a sarcastic tone, but Rita doesn’t need to look at him to know that he’s really fighting back a smile. “Anyway, I wouldn’t have invited you to join us if I didn’t want you there.”</p>
<p>Rita nods after a long moment before stepping out of the embrace. “You go and get your man then! I’ll get some snacks together.”</p>
<p>Juno shudders at the idea of the odd flavor combinations she was likely to subject him to before he realizes what she said. “Ransom is not my man.”</p>
<p>This time it is Rita who rolls her eyes. “Well then hurry up and go get Mistah Ransom so that he can experience the wonder that is Werewolves on Jupiter.” With that she pushes Juno out of the kitchen and into the hallway that leads towards their rooms.</p>
<p>“I’m going, I’m going, geez,” Juno says as he allows himself to be pushed. “And try to take it easy on the flavor combinations.”</p>
<p>“I make no promises, Mistah Steel,” Rita says with a bright grin. Juno sighs but doesn’t say anything as he goes off to find Peter.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, I did almost spell Jupiter as Jupeter, what of it? Again, come request stuff at lurking-umbra on tumblr if you like what you read. Or come yell about TPP.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Backhand Slap</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Juno learns that taking a beating is better when you have people to help patch you up after it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Juno’s head snapped to the side as the goon in front of him gave him a backhanded slap, his body following slightly with the force behind it. Once he adjusted himself back upright and facing the man in front of him, he spat in his direction, spit mingling with blood from where he had bitten into his cheek. “Don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt a lady while he’s speaking?” He snapped, bracing himself right before the goon landed a punch to his stomach. He curled over in pain, doing his best not to lose his breakfast all over himself. “Apparently not,” he muttered breathlessly to himself. The goon was looking at him like he regretted ever coming into contact with Juno, which wasn’t very surprising, and also like he would enjoy smacking Juno five ways to the outer rim, which was also not surprising. Juno tended to have that effect on people. At least he knew that Buddy and the rest of the crew would come for him soon. He only had to hold up to a little beating, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t faced that before, and it was nice to know that someone was coming for him.</p>
<p>Juno wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he realized that the beating had stopped, his mind finding its way back to his bruised body and its various aches from wherever it had gone when the pain became too much. His good eye was swollen nearly shut, and when a silhouette stopped in the doorway before approaching him, he flinched away from the hands reaching out to him.</p>
<p>“Juno, it’s me,” came a familiar voice.</p>
<p>“Nureyev?” Juno asked softly, more of a movement of his lips than any voice. He looked up at the blur in front of him, trying to resolve it into something clearer.</p>
<p>“Quite right, though perhaps it’s best if you keep that name to yourself still,” Peter said, moving around Juno to release him from his bonds. “No plasma cutter this time?”</p>
<p>Juno grinned tiredly and let his head drop to his chest. “Must have taken it before they tied me up.”</p>
<p>“Can you stand?” Peter asked as he helped Juno up, catching the lady when his knees buckled.</p>
<p>“Yeah, just…” Juno broke off with a huff of breath as he steadied himself. “Give me a minute.” He shut his eye tightly as the room swam around him and he could feel himself swaying in Peter’s arms.</p>
<p>“Juno?” Peter questioned softly.</p>
<p>Juno opened his eye as well as he could and the room stayed mostly stable. “Let’s go,” he said, moving forwards on legs that shook but thankfully continued to hold his weight. Juno leaned on Peter the whole way out, trusting him to catch him should his legs decide that walking wasn’t worth it. He couldn’t tell if the weakness was a side effect from the pain or from the blood loss that had occurred when the goon got really frustrated with him. The pair managed to make it to the rendezvous point where the others were waiting for them and Juno wanted nothing more than to lay down somewhere dark and quiet to lick his wounds.</p>
<p>Juno’s entire body was shaking and he wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like this was the first beating he had received while on the job, it wasn’t even the most painful, and yet he felt a little bit like his body was trying to shake out of his skin. It didn’t help that he was exhausted and nearly ready to collapse.</p>
<p>“Steel?” Vespa snapped, moving into his limited line of sight suddenly, causing him to flinch back into Peter, who gently steadied him. Her voice had a tone of annoyance that arose when trying to grab someone’s attention repeatedly. </p>
<p>“What?” he snapped, wincing when he realized how harsh he was being and reminding himself that he was trying to be better about things like that.</p>
<p>“I asked what happened,” Vespa repeated dryly. “But what matters even more is that you’ve earned yourself a physical.”</p>
<p>Juno politely refrained from his desire to tell Vespa exactly where she could stick her physical. He didn’t mean it, he was just exhausted and not exactly looking forward to having all of his hurts poked and prodded at. Instead he followed her to the infirmary, leaning on the wall for support as the rest of the crew joined Buddy for a “family meeting” slash mission debrief. Vespa didn’t offer him any help, but Juno wasn’t sure that he would have accepted it even if it had been.</p>
<p>Vespa gestured for Juno to sit on the examination table as she collected her tools. She very pointedly didn’t mention his shaking as she looked him over. “You look fine, Steel,” Vespa said, leaning back in her seat. Her mouth curled upwards in a smirk. “Well, not fine, but you’ll live. Put some ice on those bruises and get some iron in your diet tonight.” Her seat made a sharp noise when it slid across the floor as she stood up and Juno flinched back from the sound. Vespa eyed him carefully before adding, “Get some rest.”</p>
<p>Juno nodded silently, making a beeline for his room. Once there with the door closed, he collapsed onto the bed, only moving enough to pull the covers up over his body. He wasn’t sure how long had passed before he heard a knock at his door. He debated whether or not to answer before he sighed and sat up, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. However long it had been was long enough for his already sore muscles to stiffen, and he regretted not listening to Vespa’s suggestion of icing his bruises. His eye in particular seemed pretty bad, the entire area throbbing in time with his heartbeat and swollen enough that the world around him was only a blur of colors. He didn’t bother with trying to navigate to the door, calling out from where he sat instead. “Who is it?”</p>
<p>“It is me, Juno,” came a voice from the other side of the door. Juno was surprised to hear Jet, having expected Rita or Peter or Vespa even, come to check on him. “I have brought tea and some of the leftovers from our meal this evening.”</p>
<p>Juno hesitated, his desire to be alone warring with his desire to show Jet that his efforts were appreciated. “Come on in, big guy,” Juno said with a sigh, pulling the blankets tighter around him.</p>
<p>Juno heard the sound of the door opening and could barely make out a blur of color moving towards him. He could feel his hands start to shake where he held them in his lap and pressing them together only made the trembling travel up his arms and through his chest. The blur that was Jet paused in front of him, and there was a soft clink as he set whatever he was holding down on the table beside Juno’s bed.</p>
<p>“Here,” Jet said, and Juno reached out his arms from under the blanket hesitantly, not sure which of the things Jet had he was about to receive. He relaxed slightly when he felt the smooth surface of one of their many food containers and he was about to pull his hands back when Jet pressed a fork into his hands as well. “Vespa made a simple noodle dish with curry sauce and cloned beef,” Jet explained and there was the sound of the top of the container being pulled off. Juno felt his stomach grumble at the smell and he began to eat, savoring the flavor of the spices Vespa had used. “I have brought you several ice packs as well, as Vespa indicated you would likely want some.” There was a soft tapping noise as Jet indicated the ice packs, close enough to Juno that he thought he could reach it without too much of a struggle. “Your tea I have placed in a lidded container,” and here Jet tapped the side of it to show where it was, “in case you should fumble for it or decide you would like to drink it later.”</p>
<p>Juno looked up at where he approximated Jet’s head was and smiled as best he could with the soreness of his face. “Thanks, Jet.”</p>
<p>“It is unfortunate that you were hurt on our mission tonight. I wish for your speedy recovery.” With that said, Jet moved away, and Juno heard the door open and close as he left. Juno finished up the noodles quickly, placing the container down on the side table and grabbing one of the ice packs. He laid back down and placed it on his swollen eye, sighing in relief as it cooled the throbbing area. This was… nice. It was good to know that the people around him cared enough to help him when he was hurt and he felt better for having received that help, rather than scorn it like he had done with Rita in the past. It wasn’t so bad, letting other people in.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Juno learning self care and also to let others in is so important to me. Come say hi or drop a prompt at lurking-umbra on tumblr if you'd like.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. I Ain't Got Time to Bleed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Buddy and Vespa attempt to have a date night. It goes well, for the most part.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As soon as the knife cuts into her skin, Buddy knows that the resulting wound will take more than a spray bandage or a stitch or two to fix. She winces as the blade is pulled away from the wound it created, immediately pressing down hard on the spot with a hand. She doesn’t have time to deal with the bleeding now, too focused on going after her assailant.</p><p>“Vespa!” Buddy calls as she runs through the halls of the Carte Blanche in search of her love. “Vespa, darling, you’re okay.” She sees a shock of green hair moving around a corner at the end of the hall, and she speeds up slightly, wanting to find the other woman as soon as possible.</p><p>Vespa quickens her pace at the sound of footsteps, not even bothering with looking behind her. “Vespa, it’s me!” Buddy calls out even as Vespa slips around yet another corner, followed quickly by the sound of a door opening and closing. Buddy practically slides into the next hallway and immediately starts opening doors. She’s not sure which of them Vespa went into, or if she went into any at all, but she needs to find her. Thankfully the two of them had sent the other four members of their family planetside as a little enforced vacation, giving Buddy and Vespa some much needed alone time together. It had been nice, having the time to relearn her Vespa, to learn this Vespa, and to know she was being learned in return. They had set out a romantic dinner, complete with a vase of flowers, fake candles, and a complicated dish that Vespa ate and Buddy did not eat. They had settled in their room with some wine and one of the many movies that Rita had recommended. Buddy must have dozed off at some point for when she woke up, the movie was off and Vespa’s side of the bed was cold. Buddy had left the room, intent on finding Vespa, only to see her staring dazedly off towards the wall. Buddy had approached her slowly, waiting to see if she would snap out of it as she moved closer. When Buddy began to speak to her, she jolted, snarling in her direction with both teeth and knife.</p><p>And that brought her here, opening the last door on the hallway and hoping that this one would be the right one. She doesn’t even notice the cut at this point, too distracted with her chase. “Vespa?” Buddy calls hesitantly into the dark room.</p><p>She is about to close the door and return to searching the ship when she hears a soft whimper. Buddy flicks on the lights and follows the sound to where Vespa is curled up, tucked out of sight behind some boxes.</p><p>“Oh Vespa,” Buddy sighs as she reaches her lover, clenching her hands into fists to prevent herself from touching Vespa. She isn’t sure that it would help at this point and she’s already startled Vespa once today.</p><p>Vespa looks up at the sound of her name, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. “I hurt you,” Vespa says raspily, shock and pain coloring her tone.</p><p>Buddy does her best to smile at Vespa despite her worry. “It’s barely even a scratch. I shouldn’t have frightened you like that.”</p><p>“Bud,” Vespa says in reply, her voice wobbling, “I didn’t even realize it was you at first. I… I shouldn’t-”</p><p>Vespa cuts herself off as Buddy drops to her knees ungracefully, reaching out to grab and squeeze Vespa’s hand with the one not coated in blood. “Vespa dear, it’s alright. I knew you were having… a moment and I should not have been so hasty in my approach.”</p><p>“And I shouldn’t have attacked you!” Vespa protests. She uncurls slightly, leaning up to look at Buddy’s cut. She winces at the sight of the wound and the blood driping from it. “This needs medical attention.”</p><p>Buddy releases Vespa’s hand, moving both of her hands up to cradle her face. “I trust you, Vespa,” Buddy says softly, gently stroking Vespa’s cheeks where tears have fallen. Buddy’s thumb leaves a streak of bright red on her cheek, but neither of them seem to notice as Buddy presses her lips gently to Vespa’s.</p><p>Vespa pulls back from the kiss after a long moment, moving to stand before helping Buddy up and steadying her when she sways. “Let’s get you fixed up,” Vespa says as she guides the two of them out of the room and down the hall to the med bay, Buddy leaning into Vespa the whole way there.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Same plug as always: come find me on tumblr @lurking-umbra and request some prompts</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Shaking and Shivering</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>If your mom tells you to wear a jacket and you don't, you're not allowed to complain to her or let her know.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Buddy is 100% Juno's mom now, I don't make the rules. Also this one is short because I can't read the rules, apparently.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do you need a hug, Mistah Steel?” Rita asked.</p><p>“I’m fine, Rita,” Juno ground out from behind his chattering teeth, crossing his arms over his chest in an attempt to maintain his body heat.</p><p>Rita continued to frown in his general direction. “Are you sure? Captain A did tell you–”</p><p>“It’s fine, Rita,” Juno snapped. He continued to shake and shiver where he stood, Rita looking worriedly in his direction. Juno sighed and allowed himself to lean into Rita’s side, a huff of breath releasing from him when she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly. “I’ll be damned if I let Buddy know that I’m cold when she told me to bring a jacket,” Juno muttered.</p><p>Rita nodded sympathetically. “That’s reasonable, Mistah Steel. I wouldn’t want to do that either.” She continued to hug him until the Ruby 7 appeared in the distance, at which point the two of them stepped away from each other to keep up the presence of Juno being fine without the coat Buddy had suggested before they left.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is a short one so I'm gonna update twice today, but like... kudos and comments are like fuel to my fic writing fire. Feed me.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Denied Food as Punishment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>When Benten can't save Juno from their Ma, he can at least join him in solidarity.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <b>TW: Sarah Steel and her bad parenting, also like... slightly disordered eating</b>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Benzaiten’s stomach is growling. He clutches at it and tries to think of anything else other than food. It’s not working very well.</p><p>“You don’t have to skip meals for me, Benten,” Juno chides from where he is leaning against his twin. He has his legs curled up underneath him, wearing the same deep purple skirt and fishnets that he had on yesterday when all of this started.</p><p>“I know I don’t have to,” Benten says softly, running a hand through Juno’s curls, gently detangling it when his fingers catch on knots. “But I figure maybe… maybe if Ma notices…” he lets his voice trail off as both of them grimace. Sarah Steel is just as likely to notice that her children are starving as she is to ignore them completely. Benzaiten isn’t sure which side she’s landed on yet, but it’s only been a little over a day. She would certainly notice if Juno took food though, and both Steel twins are terrified that doing so would make things worse.</p><p>Benten isn’t even sure what Juno did to deserve this punishment, if anything. He only knows that Sarah had told Juno that he didn’t deserve to eat her hard earned food and so he was forbidden from eating any of it. That had been yesterday afternoon. Now it has been over 24 hours that Juno has gone without food, and he is getting a little listless. Juno is leaning his weight into Benten like it is the only thing keeping him upright. The image of his sibling slowly sinking into a puddle of despair without his support crosses Benten’s mind and he sighs.</p><p>“I’m serious, Benzaiten,” Juno says raspily, using his limited energy to tilt his head up so that he can look him in the eyes. “You need to keep your energy up so you can dance.”</p><p>“Let me do this for you, Supersteel,” Benten pleads. It’s not like he has anywhere to dance at the moment. The school is closed for the next few days as part of some holiday, but Benten will be damned if he goes to his dance lessons and leaves Juno alone with Sarah. Usually Benten would just practice in their room or drag Juno with him to his lessons, but Sarah had already yelled at them for making noise earlier that day and Juno was too dizzy to walk the distance it would take to get them to the studio. So instead he sits and watches over his sibling, hoping that his fast will be over soon.</p><p>“Okay, but you are eating tomorrow,” Juno ordered.</p><p>“Juno–”</p><p>“No. It’s bad enough that one of us have to suffer through this. You shouldn’t be punished for my mistakes,” Juno says with a frown. He straightens up slightly, leaning away from Benten and swaying in the process.</p><p>“And what mistakes are those?” Benzaiten snaps, because he is hungry and tired of Juno keeping this from him. He knows he has said the wrong thing as soon as the words are out of his mouth. Juno stiffens and stands quickly from the bed, his eyes filled with hurt even as he wobbles dangerously. “Juno, I–”</p><p>“No, Benten, you’re right,” Juno says, cutting off whatever apology Benzaiten could offer him. “I need to own up to my mistakes.”</p><p>“Juno,” Benten tries again, his head throbbing slightly as he rises too quickly from the bed. If this is what he is feeling, after skipping only two meals, he can hardly imagine how Juno feels. Juno, who is still wearing the outfit he went out in yesterday, eyes wide and slightly unfocused, unsteady on his feet like the solid ground is an ocean underneath them. Benten wants to pull his twin into his arms and protect him from the outside world, from anything that would hurt him, but neither of them have been good at protecting themselves from Sarah Steel. Benten is less likely to receive the full force of her wrath like Juno does, but it just makes the moments she chooses to attack him hurt more. Benzaiten does not have any armor to protect himself against Sarah and all three Steels know that, which is why Juno is out the window and down the fire escape before Benten can even plead his case. He watches Juno go, knowing that wherever Juno ends up, he is a lot safer there than he is here in their childhood home.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos are good, comments are great, come yell at me @lurking-umbra on tumblr.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Dissociation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>As a dancer, Benten is usually aware of his body. But sometimes he isn't.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I love one (1) Benzaiten Steel.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Benzaiten is not sure that he has a body. No, no, that’s not right. He is not sure that this body is <em>his</em>. It responds to him, lifting an arm when he wills it and moving his eyes to stare at the hand in front of him, but it feels <em>off</em>. Like it’s moving a little slower than he is used to. His eyes drift upwards from his hands to catch on the sight of his own face. His mouth is moving, but whatever sounds are coming out are turning to indecipherable static in his brain. Or wait. No. His face in front of him is more scarred than he remembers his face ever being. This is not his face. This is his twin. <em>Juno</em>. Juno who is talking to him with words that he cannot hear. He can feel the corners of his lips stretch slowly into a smile, but it feels fake. His whole body feels fake, but this smile feels the least real of everything.</p>
<p>He sees Juno grab onto his hands more than he feels them, watches as Juno’s mouth forms words that his ears hear but his brain turns into nothing. Eventually Juno’s mouth stops moving and Benzaiten is pulled into a hug. The feeling of pressure is immediate and makes his body feel a little bit more like his. He slowly begins to notice more sensations, like the soft chest he is pressed against and the combination of scents he has come to associate with Juno. It takes a while, but eventually he becomes aware of Juno’s chest rising and falling against him in deep, even breaths. Sound comes next and Benten can hear Juno breathing, along with some hitched breaths that he thinks might be his own. It’s not long after that when he finally, finally feels like his body is his own, that he becomes fully cognizant of occupying a physical space. His hands come up to clutch at Juno’s back from where they had been hanging limply at his sides.</p>
<p>Juno’s even breaths break off abruptly. “Benten?” he asks hurriedly, moving to pull back so that he can look at his brother.</p>
<p>Benzaiten holds onto Juno tighter, aborting the movement before it can really start. “Give me a sec,” Benten rasps out, and his voice sounds like a smoker from those old Earth movies, like he hasn’t spoken in hours or even days.</p>
<p>Juno makes an affirming noise and begins to hum softly, rubbing gentle circles into Ben’s back.</p>
<p>Ben’s breath hitches and this time he can feel it just as well as he can hear it, can feel the sharp pinpricks of tears at the corners of his eyes.</p>
<p>“You back with me?” Juno asks after a long moment of uneven breaths and gentle humming.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Benten croaks.</p>
<p>Juno pulls away once more and this time Benzaiten lets him, watching him as he stands stiffly before holding out a hand for Benten to take. Benten rises unsteadily, his muscles tense and locked up from spending who knows how long in the same position. Juno ushers his twin into a hot shower, and then into some soft and warm sleep clothes, and then into bed, curling up behind him and pulling him into a comforting embrace.</p>
<p>“Good?” Juno asks once the two of them are settled. Benten nods slowly, the sluggishness of his motions due to exhaustion this time rather than his mind floating away above his body. “Go to sleep Benten,” Juno implores. “Tomorrow is another day.” If Juno says anything after that, Benten doesn’t hear it, already pulled into the arms of sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos make my day and comments make me squeal with happiness. Also if you like these, feel free to check out my tumblr @lurking-umbra and request some prompts, because I have 1 more prewritten and another currently in the works and then I need more fuel.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Time Loop</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Juno doesn't exactly handle his brother's death well the first time. Seeing it again is not much better.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><b>TW: blood, death mention, vomit mention, Sarah Steel and her bad parenting</b><br/>...I'm sorry.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You took your sweet time getting here. What’s the matter? Had something better to do?” Sarah Steel asks as soon as I approach the apartment. She’s waiting outside of the front door, which strikes me as odd. Ma rarely went outside without a purpose, and the way she is leaning next to the door makes me worry that she was waiting for me. I have no idea what she means, but my stomach drops either way. She is angry at best, and furious at worst, and the best time to handle Sarah Steel is when she is out cold. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been out of this place, the fear of Sarah Steel that ran through my veins as a child doesn’t go away easily. I don’t see Ben anywhere in view and for some reason that sets off all of my internal alarms. The need to find Ben, to see him and know that he’s alright pulls at everything in me. Ma lets me open the door to the apartment without a fight, but Ben isn’t in immediate sight. </p>
<p>“Where is he?” I snap as my heart thuds in fear, feeling like it might burst out of my chest at any moment.</p>
<p>“It’s been months since you’ve seen old Ma, and I don’t even get a hello?” She asks instead of answering my question as she follows me inside. The door closes behind us and a small part of me wonders if I just cut off my escape route.</p>
<p>“Tell me where…” I start, and she cuts me off so that she can rant instead. I’m not sure what she means by it, but the dread I’m feeling grows as she trails me throughout my search of the apartment. </p>
<p>“…‘it’s alive!’ and it wishes it was dead. Just like you gave me,” she finishes.</p>
<p>“What the hell are you–?” I start, whirling around to look at her. As she monologues about having control over life, about rowing and paddling and oars, the panic in my chest builds. Ben isn’t in the main room, or the kitchen, and he hasn’t come in to check on us at the sound of our voices. I try the door to our room… his room, now that I’ve moved out, and it’s locked. This isn’t exactly unheard of, but for some reason, this time makes my skin crawl. “Ben? Benten? Are you in there?” I call, banging on the door. Sarah continues speaking, but I’m too caught up in the feel of my heartbeat thudding in my throat in an attempt to choke me. “Benten!”</p>
<p>“Why are you shouting?”</p>
<p>“Give me the key,” I demand.</p>
<p>“Why? You know what’s in there. I smashed your oar like you smashed mine,” Ma explains. She says more, but that’s the part that sticks in my ears and echoes in my brain. “Why!” I ask, but don’t bother listening for an answer. If she did what she claimed she did, her answer doesn’t matter anyway. I bang on the door once more, hoping against hope that she’s wrong, that she’s just hallucinating, or maybe she missed and Benten is still alive behind that door.</p>
<p>“I couldn’t even do this right. No control left. Nothing,” she snorts and shakes her head, as if any part of this is funny or even amusing. “I’ve been thinking about it, though, and I think this is better. Much better. Go see him, then. And see how fast the current takes you.” She tosses the keys in my direction, and I’m too focused on getting to the right one to argue with anything she said. Sarah Steel has never been as important to me as Benzaiten anyway. </p>
<p>It takes me a few tries to get the keys in the lock and turn it the right way with the tears that have started to stream down my face. I know what Ma said and what she meant, but I can’t help but hold out hope that she’s wrong somehow. When I finally get the door open and call out for Ben, the first thing I notice is the blood. It seems like there is far too much for one body, a metallic stench filling the air. My stomach flips just looking at it and I worry that I will make an even bigger mess by getting sick. A sob tears its way out of my throat as my knees decide that they are done holding my weight and collapse to the ground. I lean over Ben’s body, my hands shaking as I try to feel for his pulse. Based on the amount of blood on the floor, it’s a useless endeavor, but I can’t bring myself to give up on Benten just yet.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>When I wake up the next day, I remember what had happened the day before. My heart stalls in my chest as I remember that I am now half of a pair, and not even the better half. I’m not sure how long I spend in a panic, my breathing fast and shallow as I remember the pool of blood Benten had been laying in, the way his blank and lifeless eyes had seemed to bore into mine. I stay like that for a while, my brain caught in a loop, until I hear the chiming noise of a message on my comms. I almost don’t check it, too caught up in my sorrow to care, but something else in me urges me to check. It’s a message from Benten, and that is what gets me sitting up to stare at my comms.</p>
<p>It’s the same message as the one he sent yesterday, and as I read it over and over, I realize that it’s more familiar than even that. This is… this is the last message I have from Benzaiten, but he died twenty years ago, not yesterday, even if sometimes the pain was so intense it felt as though it had. So if Benzaiten had died twenty years ago, what was I doing here, staring at his last message to me? What was happening that made me remember everything that had happened that day like it was yesterday? </p>
<p>My eyes catch on the message again, even though I haven’t stopped staring at it. If this really is that day, maybe I am meant to stop it, to change what happened. What other reason was there for living the worst day of my life over and over again?</p>
<p>I dial Benzaiten’s comms number, hissing a curse when the call goes straight to an automated message. “Pick up your phone, Benzaiten,” I growl as his recorded voice tells me to leave a message.  “Benten, don’t go back to Ma’s tonight. I don’t know why you’re not picking up your comms, but please trust me. Nothing good will happen if you see mom tonight.” With that I hang up in frustration. I spend a few seconds staring restlessly at my comms before I fling back the bed sheets and climb out of bed. Maybe if I hurry, I can catch Benten and stop him on his way home.</p>
<p>A few hours later, running out of places to look for Benzaiten, I wonder if I should admit defeat and go to Ma’s apartment. The need for me to locate Benten wars with the utter revulsion I have at the thought of willingly entering that apartment. But I’ve already stopped by Benten’s workplace and the dance studio where he practices and teaches lessons in his free time, and Mick hasn’t seen him today either. So I get back in my car and drive over, worry building up in my stomach. There’s no reason for it to have already happened if I’m meant to stop it. I’m not sure if that is what’s going on, but a small part of me I thought I had buried a long time ago hopes so. </p>
<p>When I get to the apartment building and up to the right floor, Ma is already waiting outside. Whatever little hope I thought I had dies, and I am struck with the urge to turn away. Something stops me though, prevents me from turning away even though I don’t want to watch this tragedy happen. I’ve already done this, and recently even, but this feels so much more real than when I had the Theia Spectrum removed. Ma greets me with the same words as yesterday, the same self-centered rant that is her justifying the murder of Benzaiten. Even knowing how this scene ends, the panic and fear come rushing back, every bit as real as the first time this happened, decades ago. I rush into the room to find my brother sprawled out on the floor dead, the blood that should be keeping him alive pooling beneath him. I live through the whole scene, unable to look away until I wake up in my bed again to the chime of my comms and that same damned message. I’m not sure how many times I go through it, doing my best to stop the tragedy that I know is coming and yet never managing to prevent it. Instead I live through my brother’s death over and over again, feeling it all blend into one never-ending nightmare, no matter how hard I try. </p>
<p>-</p>
<p>When the time loop is finally broken, I find myself lying in one of the beds of the med bay, the sight of Benten as I saw him last still imprinted in my mind. Nausea roils in my stomach and up my throat and I do my best to swallow past it. I feel like someone had dragged me halfway across the desert of Mars and then stabbed me directly in the brain a couple hundred times just for fun. </p>
<p>“Are you with us now, Steel?” Vespa rasps from where she is sitting beside my bed, checking some of the equipment there as Buddy hovers close by. The red of Buddy’s hair catches my eye and I am hit with a much stronger and clearer picture of Benten lying in a puddle of his own blood and I turn my head to the side to retch. Nothing comes up, and the movement only makes me more aware of the ache that was my whole body and ratchets up the pounding in my head.</p>
<p>“Does that answer your question?” I grind out.</p>
<p>“Not entirely, but your terrible personality sure does,” Vespa snarks back. She leans over and shines a light into my eye, and that feels like she had decided to make friends with whoever had stabbed me in the brain.</p>
<p>“Oww,” I groan as I slam my eye shut, dragging an arm up over my eye for good measure. I retch once more, which only serves to make me feel even worse. “Are you trying to finish the job of whoever tried to kill me?”</p>
<p>“They weren’t trying to kill us, Juno,” Buddy corrects.</p>
<p>“Then what the hell happened?”</p>
<p>“There was a light hallucogenic in the air of the scene of our last heist. It was only enough to affect someone gradually, which is why we were all able to get out before it hit.”</p>
<p>“But why?” I ask.</p>
<p>“Apparently our target was very angry at one of their guests, and the rest of us were caught in the crossfire. They posted a public apology on some type of forum a few hours ago.”</p>
<p>“And that’s supposed to make it all better that we… what? Experienced the worst moments of our lives?”</p>
<p>“I never said it was a good apology,” Buddy drawls, and I suddenly realize just how close she is hovering to Vespa, at least a hand kept in contact with her the whole time. I wasn’t the only one affected by the hallucinogen, although when I look around, I note that I am the only one in the med bay.</p>
<p>“How is everyone else doing?” I ask.</p>
<p>“They’re about as well as can be expected, darling, given the circumstances,” Buddy replies.</p>
<p>“You’re the last one to wake up,” Vespa explains. “Everyone else has been out of their trance for at least a few hours.”</p>
<p>I grimace. “And why am I so special?”</p>
<p>“We’re not sure,” Vespa replies, leaning over to look at a screen off to the side. “Which is why you’re stuck in the med bay for the rest of the night.” She rises from her chair and brushes her hands together. “Now that you’re up and your vitals are fine, we’re going to bed,” she says, grabbing Buddy’s hand and moving towards the door.</p>
<p>“Hey wait!” I call out. “What am I supposed to do if I need something?”</p>
<p>Vespa rolls her eyes at me, but Buddy beats her to an answer. “We’ll send someone in for you, don’t worry,” she says before she whisks Vespa out of the door. I wonder who they would send in, and then I wonder if I even have a preference. I feel too exhausted and wrung out to fight it either way.</p>
<p>I am thankful when there is a gentle knock on the door and it opens to reveal Peter rather than Rita or Jet.</p>
<p>“Hello, dear,” Peter calls as he makes his way across the room, a thermos and package of crackers in hand. I can feel my body relax slightly and for a moment any visions of Benten in my mind take a backseat to the wonder that is Peter Nureyev. I can tell that they are still there, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, but they’re quieter at least.</p>
<p>“Hey,” I replied, feeling a smile pulling at the corner of my lips.</p>
<p>“Everyone was very concerned about you,” he adds as he settles into the chair Vespa had vacated. “Rita wanted to come check in on you, but Buddy suggested you might want a more delicate touch. Rita did tell me to say, and I quote, 'he can fire me if he wants, I don’t mind’. I’ll admit to not understanding entirely what she meant…”</p>
<p>“It’s fine, Nureyev. I know what she means.”</p>
<p>“That makes two of us, I suppose.” Peter’s hand reaches out for where mine is laying limply, hesitating slightly, as if he is waiting for me to startle.“I hate to ask it dear, but… did you want to talk about your ordeal?”</p>
<p>Just thinking about that question makes me want to cry or vomit, and I’m not sure which one would be worse. “No,” I reply flatly. Peter doesn’t react to that much, but he does stop reaching for my hand. My stomach lurches at that and my hand chases after his instead. I remind myself that I am working at not snapping at people when I am hurting, and that Peter ought to know he had done nothing wrong. “I would rather not think about it,” I say in a softer tone. “But I wouldn’t mind spending time with you.”</p>
<p>Peter’s mouth pulls up into the slightest of smiles, the corner of a tooth glinting in the low light of the med bay. “Of course, my love.”</p>
<p>My face heats up slightly at the endearment and I grumble halfheartedly as I search for something to say. “Yeah, well… what did you do while I was still out?” I ask, genuinely curious about what Peter and the rest of the crew had been up to.</p>
<p>Peter’s facial expression doesn’t change, exactly, but I can see the tension in his body, feel the way he tightens his hand in mine. “It was rather unexciting, I’m afraid. After I woke up…” Peter pauses and I wonder what scene he relived in his own time loop. “I’ll admit that I wasn’t very good company at the time.”</p>
<p>“I’m sure no one would be,” I comment when he doesn’t seem inclined to speak any further. “I can’t promise that I’ll be good company myself.” I pause and add, “But I appreciate you sticking around anyway.”</p>
<p>“Of course, my dear detective.”</p>
<p>“Not a detective,” I grumble as I sit up and cross my arms over my chest. His mouth pulls into the first real smile I’ve seen from him since I woke up at the common disagreement between us. “How is everyone else taking this? I asked Buddy, but you know how she is. How are Rita and the big guy doing?”</p>
<p>“Well, your former secretary seemed to shake off the visions fairly quickly. I must admit that she was the one who dragged me out of my room,” Peter says with a flash of a grimace. “Jet seems to be bothered more by the hallucinogenic than whatever vision he may have relived. Vespa and Captain Aurinko–”</p>
<p>“Yeah I think I can just about guess how the two of them are,” I interrupt. “They’ve been sticking together pretty close, huh?”</p>
<p>“There go those detective skills, Juno,” Peter says with a grin that shows off the points of his teeth. “I haven’t seen one of them without the other since I woke up.”</p>
<p>I nod. “That fits with what I’ve seen of them. Jet is probably worried about maintaining his sobriety. And Rita… well, I’ll check in with her when I’m free of this bed.”</p>
<p>“That sounds like a decent plan, I’m sure she looks forward to being able to see you.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” I say softly. “Hey, Nureyev?" </p>
<p>"Yes, Juno?”</p>
<p>“Do you uh–” I cut myself off and swallow hard with embarrassment, feeling my cheeks heat up slightly. “Do you think both of us could fit up here?”</p>
<p>“We can certainly try,” Peter says as he rises from his seat and I scoot over to the far edge of the bed. It takes us a few moments to find a position that doesn’t end up with one or both of us nearly on the floor and we settle with Peter laying on his back as I curl into his side. He has an arm wrapped loosely around my waist, and I can’t help but think about how pleasant this is, how relaxed I am now that he’s here, even if our physical positions aren’t the most comfortable. Lying like this, I can imagine telling Peter about what I saw, about Benten’s death and how I wish I could change it. Maybe not right this second when it still feels so fresh, but some time. Soon maybe. As long as I’m being indulgent, I imagine him telling me about his own hallucinations and being able to listen and comfort him in return.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There's one more update and then the well has run dry. Come prompt me on tumblr <a href="https://lurking-umbra.tumblr.com/post/618294501709119488/lurking-umbra-here-is-your-card-for-bad-things"> @lurking-umbra</a>. Or drop a comment here. Comments and kudos feed me and make me happy. Next update will take a bit, but it's coming.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Cradling someone in their arms</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sometimes Buddy has to get creative in making the members of her crew get along and act like family.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Juno and Vespa entered the dining area, Rita immediately broke out into boisterous giggles, making only the barest attempts at smothering them. "W-wh-what are you wearing?" She somehow managed between guffaws.</p>
<p>"I call it their 'get along shirt'," Buddy said proudly, moving to stand in the doorway behind them and placing a hand on each of their shoulders. It was made easier by the overly large shirt that had been placed onto the both of them, over their usual clothes. Rita started up into a new round of laughter at that declaration as Vespa and Juno glared at one another.</p>
<p>"Buddy, do we have to do this?" Juno whined.</p>
<p>"We are a family, here aboard the Carte Blanche, and if you two can't get along like one, I'll simply have to force you to," Buddy said with a smirk.</p>
<p>"But Bud!" Vespa protested.</p>
<p>"I've made my stance on this perfectly clear," Buddy said, cutting off any complaints.</p>
<p>"Juno, when I suggested that you accessorize more, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Peter commented, finally looking up from where he was preparing his coffee at the counter. He took a small sip to hide his grin as Juno and Vespa growled as one.</p>
<p>"Get over here so I can wipe that slimy smile off your face, Ransom," Vespa threatened, taking a step towards him only to be pulled up short when Juno didn't move with her. She turned to look at him with a groan. "Oh come on, Steel! You're not even a little offended at that dig?"</p>
<p>"Well, maybe a little, but that doesn't mean I want him to die."</p>
<p>"Well, maybe I'll--"</p>
<p>"Where did you even get a shirt that big, Captain A?" Rita asked loud enough to speak over Vespa's reply, finally done with her laughter, though a few chuckles did sneak out here and there.</p>
<p>"I believe I have the answer to your question, Rita," Jet drawled as he transferred a large amount of cloned scrambled eggs from a pan onto a serving dish before turning around. "That," he started in the absolute silence that followed his declaration, "is one of my shirts, which went missing several days ago."</p>
<p>Rita broke into laughter once more, tears streaming down her face from how hard she was laughing. Peter tried to hide a few chuckles under the guise of taking a sip from his coffee, and Buddy stood, arms akimbo, a proud smirk on her face. Vespa looked like she was one breath away from killing someone, and only time would tell who, while Juno looked like he was hoping a spontaneous opening to the Martian sewers would swallow him whole.</p>
<p>"Are we done?" Juno and Vespa complained in synchronicity, the shock on both of their faces sending Rita falling out of her seat to roll on the floor. Jet crossed the kitchen to place the serving plate of eggs on the table, a small smirk on his face. Even Buddy let out a laugh or two as Juno and Vespa stared at one another with disgust.</p>
<p>"See? It worked even more perfectly than I could have planned," Buddy added.</p>
<p>"The only way this could be any more perfect is if they hugged each other," Rita offered faux innocently as she picked herself off the ground. Juno and Vespa turned their heads as one to glare at her.</p>
<p>Buddy hummed and looked at the two still standing in front of her. "Rita does make an interesting case."</p>
<p>"Oh come on!" Juno groaned. "Really, Rita?"</p>
<p>"Sorry boss!" Rita said with a smile that didn't look very sorry at all.</p>
<p>"Well that's my price, you two. Freedom from the shirt after you two hug it out," Buddy ordered. "And I do mean a real hug. Nothing quick and meaningless." The two in question groaned heavily even as they looked at one another in consideration.</p>
<p>"If it's our only way out, I suppose," Vespa grumbled with a roll of her eyes.</p>
<p>"Promise not to stab me again and we're good," Juno snarked, eager to get in the last word.</p>
<p>"It was one time!" Vespa protested. The two looked at one another once more before pulling into a hug, the angle made slightly awkward by the shirt.</p>
<p>"Now was that so hard?" Buddy asked, still grinning.</p>
<p>"Yes," Vespa said, pulling a knife from somewhere on her person and ripping the shirt in two.</p>
<p>"You could have done that the whole time??" Juno asked, gaping at Vespa. </p>
<p>"Buddy said we had to wear it," Vespa grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.</p>
<p>"I don't think you're going to win on that one, detective," Peter offered helpfully as he finally took an actual sip of his coffee. Juno grumbled under his breath as he approached Peter, turning towards the coffee machine beside him at the last minute. "You know, it might have been nice to have been able to grab a picture of such a momentious occassion."</p>
<p>"Oh don't worry about that Mistah Ransom," Rita said around a mouthful of cloned eggs with imitation bacon bits and salmon puffs. "I took a picture on my comms when no one was looking and then uploaded it to my super secure mainframe so we don't have to worry about Miss Vespa deleting it off my comms."</p>
<p>"What about me deleting it off your comms?" Juno asked.</p>
<p>Rita snorted. "That's funny Mistah Steel. I don't think you can unlock my comms, much less find and delete an image. Face it, I thought of everything." Juno grumbled wordlessly as he poured himself coffee, unable to protest Rita's logic. "Oh, OH! Captain A! What if I take a whole bunch of family pictures and make them all into a family photo album?" Rita asked excitedly, practically vibrating in her seat.</p>
<p>"Buddy, please say no," Vespa whispered in a tone that was still loud enough for the others to hear in the small room.</p>
<p>Buddy chuckled heartily, taking a seat at the table and pouring herself a large mug of tea. "I'll think about it, dear."</p>
<p>"Wait, was she talking to Rita or to Vespa?" Juno attempted to whisper to Peter.</p>
<p>"I was talking to both, of course," Buddy clarified loudly. Juno made a face and moved to take a seat at the table, Peter following and taking the seat beside him. "Alright, now that that's out of the way, onto this morning's family meeting..."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Again, feel free to send me prompts on tumblr @lurking-umbra! Also I have another fill in the works that is significantly longer. So look forward to that in maybe the next week or so?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Eating Disorder</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Juno finds that sometimes bad habits come back to haunt him.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><b>TW: disordered eating, abusive/violent relationship mention</b><br/>Please mind the TWs in this chapter, it is literally about disordered eating and does discuss it a decent amount. Keep yourselves safe &lt;3<br/>Also I literally woke up at 4 AM with the first scene fully written in my head so make of that what you will. This chapter is almost half the length of the previous fics combined. <s>sorry, not sorry</s></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Juno and Diamond were together, Diamond had two rings that they wore all the time, one on each hand, one gold, one silver. Juno still remembered the coolness of them against his cheeks when they cradled his face in their hands, after a nightmare about Ben or when they were apologizing for something they did. Juno hadn’t dated anyone who wore rings since, at least not until Nureyev. Nureyev wore an assortment of rings on his fingers, of varying sizes, but somehow they always felt warm against Juno’s skin rather than cold like Diamond’s. Nureyev took all of them off when the two were in bed together, which helped make it feel different than Diamond.</p>
<p>When Juno and Diamond’s relationship started to go bad, if it hadn’t been bad to begin with and Juno was just too blind to see it, Diamond began to get rougher and rougher with him. Diamond had always had a temper, blowing up at Juno for small things. Juno still remembered the feel of those rings knocking against his face. As their relationship started to get worse, when the yelling and fighting became closer to once a night rather than only on occasion, Diamond complained that Juno had never bought them anything.</p>
<p>At the beginning of their relationship, Diamond had showered Juno with gifts: skirts and dresses, earrings, alcohol; all more expensive than what Juno could afford with his starting salary at the HCPD. Diamond had been born into money, and when they bought Juno lavish things he could never even hope to afford, they always said it was a gift, because they loved him. Looking back, at some point the gifts had turned from spontaneous delights to apology bribes, given whenever Diamond got really angry and broke his things or hit him.</p>
<p>Diamond had never asked for anything in return, but there wasn’t much Juno could buy them that they couldn’t get themselves much quicker and easier. Or at least they hadn’t asked until things were getting really bad, around the same time they were planning their wedding.</p>
<p>When Diamond demanded for him to buy them something special, Juno had wanted to protest, to say that even though he rarely, if ever, bought them things, he did other things to show he loved them instead. He cooked them elaborate dinners when they were home from work late, he cleaned the apartment they shared from top to bottom, planned extravagant date nights in, and ran them warm baths and gave them massages when they came home with their muscles sore. Things he could do without spending the small amount of free creds he had that didn’t go towards necessities. But they wanted more, and Juno was tired of the fighting and getting knocked around. He was tired of being so afraid of treading wrong in his own home, of feeling like he had never really left Oldtown and Sarah Steel. He missed Benten and the ability to hide behind his brother on the rare occasions when he allowed it to happen.</p>
<p>So when Diamond asked for him to buy them something, anything, in time for them to receive it before their wedding, Juno started saving everything he could. It wasn’t enough at first, not nearly enough for anything that Diamond would accept, and so he looked at his budget and tried to figure out what he could afford to lose. Most of his salary went towards the rent Diamond charged him for living in their apartment. He often purchased the groceries for the two of them as well, and it didn’t take long for Juno to realize that the food would last longer if he didn’t eat, like he and Ben would do sometimes when money was tight and their mother hadn’t managed to attend work that week. Eating only the bare minimum, making his money stretch further by not purchasing as much food, Juno could do that for Diamond. He could sacrifice the occasional lunches eaten out at the HCPD, eat less on the few times when Diamond insisted on sharing a meal together. If being hungry was what it took to make Diamond happy, Juno didn’t mind starving to death, if that was where this was headed.</p>
<p>He could tell Rita worried when he started working through lunch, and he tried to reassure her that he had a big breakfast, or that he would eat while he worked, or that he was saving room for a big fancy dinner date with Diamond. </p>
<p>Juno wasn’t sure when skipping meals to save money became a habit, but he had saved up enough money to buy Diamond a very nice engagement ring, a sign of his commitment to the relationship, within a few months. Diamond had been so happy and things were really good for a short time. They continued to be good, up until the week before the wedding, when everything fell apart so rapidly. </p>
<p>Some of the details from then were still a little foggy to Juno, the lack of food catching up to him all at once, it seemed, and the stress of both the wedding and Diamond’s own stress doing much to continue to keep him from eating. Juno had passed out at work twice in that week, and was once so dizzy while on a foot chase that he had run into a wall.</p>
<p>Even now, years after all of that had happened, Juno still found himself eating less when he thought someone was mad or frustrated with him. It happened less often than it had while he was with Diamond, but Juno had yet to be in any relationship where things were perfectly smooth all the time. So when Nureyev was mad at him for nearly sacrificing himself on a job, Juno stopped eating.</p>
<p>He wasn’t sure how it was supposed to help, but it did mean that Juno could avoid being in public spaces with Nureyev. He didn’t need to go into the kitchen to eat with the rest of the crime family when he had a small stash of non-perishables hidden in his room that he could eat from when the dizziness started to impede his ability to work. Both Rita and Buddy made mention of seeing him less often in the days since his sacrifice attempt, and to appease them, Juno went back to eating at least one meal a day with the crew, though that was often the only meal he would eat that day. When he thought he could get away with just moving his food around his plate, he did so. His missed meals didn’t come to a head until nearly two weeks later when Nureyev stumbled upon Juno half collapsed in the middle of a hallway as he waited for the dizziness impeding his visual field to go away.</p>
<p>“Juno?” Peter asked, and Juno did his best to ignore the way his head throbbed when he attempted to look up at him, only for his field of vision to be the barest of pinpricks surrounded by odd bursts of color. “What on earth are you doing in the middle of the hallway?”</p>
<p>“Can’t a lady spend some time alone in a hallway?” Juno asked as he leaned into the wall and pulled himself up to his feet. He startled badly at the feel of hands on his arms, banging his head into the wall and sending his vision into utter darkness.</p>
<p>“Juno?” Peter repeated, and Juno could hear the concern in his voice even as he remained the only thing keeping Juno upright at the moment.</p>
<p>Juno’s vision cleared slowly and he could finally see Peter’s face and the worry that lined it. He hadn’t seen Peter very often since they had their disagreement and he found his heart lifting at the sight of his face. “Hey hon,” Juno said with a grin, as he finally gained his footing once more rather than leaning on Peter. The dizziness had finally faded, although the pounding of his head that replaced it wasn’t really any better.</p>
<p>“Do you… need to see Vespa?” Peter asked slowly, looking Juno up and down. “How hard did you hit your head and what happened before that?" </p>
<p>"I’m fine,” Juno assured him, stepping out of Peter’s grip and moving in the direction of his room. He couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten, and that was probably overdoing it. He could grab a granola bar from his stash and he would be fine for the next day or so.</p>
<p>“Juno, you just nearly passed out when I touched you,” Peter said, trailing behind him and reaching out for him once more. Juno forced his muscles to stiffen rather than flinch back like he wanted. Diamond had not been so gentle when they were angry with him, even though Juno wasn’t sure why he was thinking about them so much or when it had even started.</p>
<p>“It would ease my mind if you would get Vespa to look at you, at the very least.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I will,” Juno said despite making no move to turn and head towards the infirmary.</p>
<p>“That’s not in the direction of the infirmary.”</p>
<p>“I know!” Juno snapped, turning around to face Peter head on. His head gave a particularly bad throb at the rapid motion, but his vision remained clear at least. “I’ll go later, okay?” he offered in a softer tone.</p>
<p>“I would much prefer that you go now." </p>
<p>"I’ve barely seen you at all recently and now you decide to care about my wellbeing?”</p>
<p>“I would have seen you more if you didn’t seem so intent on avoiding me,” Peter said with a frown. “The little time we’ve spent together isn’t for lack of trying on my part.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Juno said softly. He wasn’t quite sure of what to do with the fact that Peter still wanted to spend time with him. “But… aren’t you… mad at me?”</p>
<p>Peter stared at Juno for a long minute. Juno resisted the urge to fidget, though he found that he couldn’t quite meet Peter’s eyes. </p>
<p>“I am… frustrated with you, yes,” Peter began haltingly. “But I am coming to realize that speaking with one another would do much to improve the situation.”</p>
<p>“You’ve been talking with Buddy, haven’t you?” Juno asked, a small grin stretching across his face.</p>
<p>“She does tend to offer advice an awful lot for someone who claims not to be a therapist, though I can’t help but agree with her in this case.” Peter reached out to touch Juno’s arm gently and slowly, telegraphing his intentions clearly. This time Juno didn’t flinch away, wasn’t startled or scared by it. This was Nureyev, the man who trusted him so much that he gave him his name, not Diamond. “Would you be agreeable to us talking?”</p>
<p>“Sure.”</p>
<p>The two of them moved down the hall once more, this time in step with one another. Peter let Juno choose where to go, and so he led them into his room. Juno thought about grabbing a granola bar once they were inside, but the thought of trying to eat anything while having a serious conversation about their relationship tied his stomach into knots. Later, then. Peter sat down on the bed and Juno took a seat beside him, just barely within arms reach.</p>
<p>“I must admit that I am not entirely sure of why you were avoiding me,” Peter started, once it was clear that Juno was not going to say anything. “I was upset the first few days afterwards, but when I wanted to speak with you, you made yourself difficult to get alone.”</p>
<p>“I…” Juno trailed off as he realized that there really was no reason for him to have avoided Peter. He had fallen into old habits from a relationship that hadn’t existed for years. “I’m sorry, Nureyev. I wasn't… I wasn’t thinking.”</p>
<p>“Well you always seem to be thinking something, my dear. You don’t have to answer, but perhaps it would help if you shared your thoughts? Or told me what I did wrong at the very least, so that I can do my best to avoid doing so again.”</p>
<p>“It’s not something you did wrong. I messed up. I knew you were angry at what I did, so I…” Juno huffed, running a hand over his hair before standing up to pace. “It’s been years since then, but for some awful reason this reminded me of–” Juno cut himself off before he said their name, as though saying their name would bring them back into his life somehow. He knew it wouldn’t and yet he felt terrified at the thought of speaking it out loud. “Someone I dated,” Juno continued. “And when they were angry at me they… they weren’t nearly so nice.”</p>
<p>“Oh Juno,” Peter said softly from the bed.</p>
<p>When Juno spun around to face him, the dizziness from before came back with a vengeance, sending him collapsing to the floor as the pounding in his head drowned out all sound for a few long moments.</p>
<p>When Juno came back to awareness, he was sitting on the bed, leaning into Peter’s side. Peter held him to his side and upright with one arm as he tapped at his comms with the other.</p>
<p>“What’re you doing?” Juno slurred, sitting up slightly even though the movement made his head throb.</p>
<p>“Asking Vespa to come look you over.”</p>
<p>“I’m fine,” Juno said, reaching out clumsily for Peter’s comms. He lifted it easily out of Juno’s reach and so he slumped back into Peter’s side in defeat. “Just a little dizzy. Nothing a granola bar won’t fix.”</p>
<p>“Juno, you passed out,” Peter said, placing the comms down and wrapping his other arm around Juno as well. Juno melted into the embrace. He had missed this. “I’m worried that you may have given yourself a concussion.”</p>
<p>“It’s not a concussion,” Juno mumbled into Peter’s chest. </p>
<p>“I’ll be the judge of that,” Vespa rasped from where she stood in the doorway.</p>
<p>“That was fast,” Juno muttered as Vespa moved towards the bed. She took out a pen light and shined it into Juno’s eye, watching the pupil contract and expand. She then had Peter move away from Juno to perform a few other tests.</p>
<p>“You seem fine,” she grumbled once she was satisfied. “You probably don’t have a concussion, but Ransom here said you passed out twice.”</p>
<p>“It wasn’t twice,” Juno protested. “Just the one time, the first time I was just very dizzy." </p>
<p>Vespa narrowed her eyes at Juno. "And have these dizzy spells been happening often? I know you don’t have any other conditions that would cause that.”</p>
<p>Juno very carefully did not look at either of the other occupants of the room. “I… I may have not been eating enough. …These past few weeks.”</p>
<p>“Juno!” “Steel!” Peter and Vespa yelled his name in admonition simultaneously and Juno winced at the combined volume. </p>
<p>“I didn’t mean to,” Juno snapped. “I just… fell back into bad habits.”</p>
<p>Vespa eyed Juno warily. “And what are you going to do now that you’ve realized?”</p>
<p>Juno shrugged. “Do better next time, I guess." </p>
<p>Vespa nodded. "Eat some food so you don’t pass out. A real meal, with balanced nutrients. There’s some leftovers from last night still in the fridge.” That said, Vespa left, the door closing behind her.</p>
<p>“She has such a wonderful bedside manner, don’t you think?” Juno joked.</p>
<p>“Juno.” Peter had been frowning since Juno mentioned the reason for his dizzy spells, and Juno realized how much he disliked seeing that expression on him, especially when he was the one to put it there.</p>
<p>“Would it help if I say I’m sorry?” Juno asked hesitantly.</p>
<p>Peter sighed wearily. “It’s a start, I suppose, but Juno, why haven’t you been eating? I understand why you wanted to avoid me now, but why would you not eat?”</p>
<p>Juno focused down on the edge of the sheets on the bed, flipping it back and forth between his hands. “Back when I… when I was dating…” Juno cut himself off with a huff and tried again. “The person I mentioned before? At one point they… we… I… they wanted me to buy something I couldn’t easily afford. But I wanted to be good for them, I wanted things to be good between us and so I… I cut out what expenses I could.”</p>
<p>“And food was one of them,” Peter extrapolated with a frown.</p>
<p>“And food was one of them,” Juno echoed with a nod. “You can make food stretch longer if you eat less of it, and that saves creds. It… was not a concept that I was unfamiliar with, and it worked. And for a while after things were much better than they had been for a long time, and so I just… kept going, in the hopes that they would stay that good.”</p>
<p>“I suppose I would be remiss if I said I didn’t understand the concept as well,” Peter said with a sigh. “I only wish you hadn’t felt the need to fall back into bad habits.”</p>
<p>“Like I said, Nureyev, it wasn’t entirely intentional. But once I realized what I was doing, it felt like it was too late to stop. It was… surprisingly easy to pick up again and now I have to remember how to stop it.”</p>
<p>“We can help. The whole crew can ensure that you get adequate food and nutrients.” Peter stood up from the bed and held out a hand for Juno to take.</p>
<p>Juno rolled his eye but took the offered limb, leaning into Peter a little more when his head spun dizzily as he stood. “I sure hope you don’t intend to be supplying any of those meals.”</p>
<p>Peter squawked indignantly but didn’t make any other protest. Juno grinned up at him as he leaned back into his side before leaning up on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Peter’s cheek.</p>
<p>“Thank you for being so understanding. And supportive. I…” Diamond wouldn’t have been much of either. “It’s been a while since I was dating someone who cared about me like this.”</p>
<p>“And you deserve that and more, Juno. You are a wonderful lady,” Peter said with a frown, pausing at the door to the kitchen. </p>
<p>“Why thank you, Ransom,” Juno said with a grin. He lowered his voice and his smile fell slightly. “I’m trying to remember that myself sometimes.”</p>
<p>“Well rest assured, I will do everything in my power to remind you of it when you need it.”</p>
<p>Juno leaned up and pressed a kiss to Peter’s lips, leaning into the kiss when Peter kissed back. When they finally pulled back, Juno was unsure if his dizziness was due to the lack of food or the lack of oxygen. “Thank you in advance.”</p>
<p>“Oh it’s my pleasure. Now which of our leftovers would you like?” Peter punctuated his statement with a wave of his hand in the direction of the refrigerator.</p>
<p>Juno opened the door to look at his options, and felt his mood sinking at the thought of eating any of them. He knew that he should, knew that he needed to, but he hadn’t been lying to Peter when he said that he had to remember how to stop this habit all over again. He grabbed a container randomly, grimacing down at it when he realized what it was. He put the container back and grabbed for one that had some kind of noodles. Noodles were safe, some of the first meals Juno had cooked for himself and Ben when they were younger. The soup that had been in the other container on the other hand, well, Juno had been avoiding soup ever since his trip into Miasma’s mind. There was just something about the whole experience that had set him off soup entirely.</p>
<p>Juno took the container to the table where Peter was sitting, a plate and fork set in the place across from him. He used the fork to scoop out some of the noodles from the container, feeling Peter’s eyes on him. Instead of feeling reassured, as Peter likely intended, he just felt watched and judged.</p>
<p>“You don’t really want to just sit there and watch me eat, do you?” Juno asked half jokingly, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. He turned to put the plate in the microwave, more to do something than because he had any interest in the food, despite the fact that it had been a while since he’d last eaten. </p>
<p>“Is that all you’re eating?” Peter asked rather than answer Juno’s question.</p>
<p>Juno stiffened in response, not needing to turn around to know that Peter had a frown on his face. He turned to face Peter slowly, having to remind himself that he wasn’t Diamond and that this was different. Peter asked because he cared and was worried. </p>
<p>“I figured I’d start small,” he replied softly. “I can always warm up more if I’m hungry after.” The microwave dinged before Peter had the time to respond and Juno was able to turn away from Peter once more. “I’ve done this before, remember?”</p>
<p>Peter hummed agreeably and Juno grabbed the plate and moved to sit in the seat across from him. He stirred the noodles on his plate, eyeing it warily. He knew from experience that despite his body’s insistence on additional food, actually eating would be a bit of an unpleasant chore at first. He also knew that pushing his food around on his plate wouldn’t work when there was nothing to distract Peter from his eating habits. He sighed softly before taking a small bite, feeling hyperaware of his chewing and the sensation of the noodles and sauce in his mouth. He swallowed his mouthful down against the wave of nausea that washed over him. This was the worst part of this process, forcing his body to adjust to regularly getting food again.</p>
<p>Juno looked down at the plate of food still left for him to eat and resisted the urge to sigh heavily at the sight. Even that small amount of food felt like an insurmountable task. He glanced up at Peter from beneath his eyelashes, training his gaze back on his plate when he saw Peter watching him intently.</p>
<p>“Juno,” Peter drawled, causing Juno to look up at him once more. “Did I ever tell you about the time I stole the ring of Saturn?”</p>
<p>“You stole one of the rings?” Juno asked flatly.</p>
<p>Peter grinned in a way that showed off the points of his teeth. “Not one of the planetary rings, my dear. This was a physical ring, though quite ostentatious, even for my tastes.”</p>
<p>Juno snorted. “And just how showy is that? You have a very high bar.”</p>
<p>Peter continued to speak, weaving the tale of his heist bit by bit, leaning into the dramatics even more than usual. Juno wasn’t sure why until his fork scraped across the bottom of the plate and found nothing. He looked down and realized that all of the contents were gone, and looked back up to see Peter smiling gently. </p>
<p>“Did you want more, dear?” He asked.</p>
<p>Juno shook his head and stood to place his plate and fork in the washer. “I see what you did there though. … thank you.”</p>
<p>“Anytime, dear. Now shall we retreat to your room or mine?”</p>
<p>“Mine, I guess,” Juno said after a moment of thought. “If I get hungry again, I have a store of granola bars.”</p>
<p>Peter nodded and offered his elbow to Juno. “Away we go.”</p>
<p>It didn’t take long for the two of them to arrive at Juno’s room once more. Juno sat on the bed, pulling Peter up behind him, and rearranging until they were leaned up against the headboard with Juno curled up to Peter’s side, Peter’s arm around his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Thanks again for everything,” Juno managed after a few moments of comfortable silence.</p>
<p>“Any time my dear.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry that I get stuck in my head so easily. I don't…” Juno trailed off as he tried to figure out how to say what he wanted. “I know you’re not them. You’re very different, but sometimes my brain… sometimes I forget that.”</p>
<p>“Well, I will do my best to remind you, I suppose.”</p>
<p>“Doesn’t it bother you?” Juno asked, his nose wrinkling in a frown. “I shouldn’t need you to remind me that you’re not… them.”</p>
<p>“Juno,” Peter said sadly and Juno turned his face slightly to bury it in Peter’s shoulder. Peter ran a hand over Juno’s head and down his back. “If it makes things easier for you, I am willing to do whatever you need. I don’t mind. I know you would do the same for me.” Peter’s hand slowed in stroking Juno’s back as he hesitated for a second. “I would rather not see you pass out from not eating again.”</p>
<p>Juno hummed noncommittally in his throat, opening the eye that had closed at the soothing sensation of Peter stroking his back. He stared at the fabric of Peter’s shirt, achingly aware of the fact that he didn’t want to have this conversation. “I… I’m not sure I can make that promise. You can ask Rita, back when I tried to kick the habit the first time it was… not easy. Sometimes I’m going to forget.”</p>
<p>“Like I said before, Juno, I’m willing to step in and remind you, or check in to make sure that you’ve eaten recently, if that’s what you need.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, that… that sounds good.” He closed his eye once more, focusing on the gentle feel of Peter’s hands on his body, one stroking up and down on his back as the other came to rest gently on top of his hair.</p>
<p>He hadn’t eaten much, but he already felt a little better, the constant throbbing in his head receding and the dizziness gone. Curled up in Peter’s arms, he felt safe, like he could rest for the first time since all of this happened. Peter wasn’t angry with him, and even if he was, he wasn’t Diamond. Juno didn’t have to worry about jumping through hoops in order to salvage their relationship. Juno could relax and know that he’d be okay, that they would be okay, and if they weren’t, they would talk about it. </p>
<p>“Are you falling asleep on me, dear?” Peter asked amusedly, after a long but comfortable silence.</p>
<p>“Maybe,” Juno hummed, already partway there.</p>
<p>“Are you aware that it’s the middle of the day?”</p>
<p>“Don’t you know that that’s the best time for napping, Nureyev?” Juno asked, looking up at Peter with a sappy grin. </p>
<p>“I can’t say I’ve ever had the chance to try it.”</p>
<p>Juno’s grin widened. “Try it with me now. You can see how nice it is and we can both wake up to the rest of the crew calling us for dinner, confused at what day it is.”</p>
<p>Peter was quiet for a few pointed moments. “And you call that good?”</p>
<p>“Oh, yeah. The best kind of naps are the ones that make you forget where and when you are when you wake up.”</p>
<p>Peter grimaced. “I’m not sure I see the benefit, but feel free to take a nap if you feel the urge.”</p>
<p>“Already on it,” Juno replied, snuggling further into Peter’s side. He felt more than heard the soft chuckle Peter let out at his response. </p>
<p>“Sleep well, Juno.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Feel free to throw prompts at me on tumblr @lurking-umbra. <i>Please</i> throw prompts at me. I am mostly out of ideas at the moment.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Caught in an Explosion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After a heist takes a sharp turn for the worst, Vespa, Jet, and Peter have to navigate their way back to the Carte Blanche with various levels of injury.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <b>cw: vomit mention, brief mention of surgery</b>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>None of the members of the Aurinko crime family expected the explosion, likely because it hadn't been one of the charges they had set up and so it happened when they didn't expect it. Vespa and Peter had been leaving the building following a successful breaking and entering job, of which one small explosive charge had been placed on a nearly impossible to crack safe when Vespa had gotten impatient and Rita had warned them over their comms that security was fast approaching and she was unable to redirect them. Vespa and Peter had been nearly silent as they snuck into the building, past security, and to the safe that held the old-school paper and pen records that they needed. On the way out, however, they had only been as silent as they needed to, arguing over whether or not they should have used the charge whenever they were slipping through an area clear enough for them to hiss at one another. Jet had been standing watch outside as their getaway driver, listening over the earpieces Buddy had insisted on since the Zolotovna job as Peter and Vespa argued.</p>
<p>Upon seeing the pair, Jet disembarked from the car in order to open the back door for Peter and Vespa, as if they were one of the many rich socialites who worked or visited the building. Peter held the door open for Vespa to walk through when the building rumbled ominously before part of one of the upper floors exploded outward. This then set off a chain reaction as the entire building wobbled before listing to the side and collapsing, sending debris everywhere. Peter only just managed to knock Vespa out of the way of some falling debris, only for some to collide with him instead.</p>
<p>When the noise stopped and the building had collapsed entirely, there was rubble everywhere and a thick cloud of dust in the air. Jet was the first of their trio to rise, having been the farthest from the collapse. He easily shook off the few smaller pieces of rubble that had made it out to where he had been in the street and moved towards the area where he had last seen Vespa and Peter.</p>
<p>Vespa waited until the ground stopped shaking and the sound of falling rubble stopped before she allowed herself to relax her protective position. It took her a moment to get shakily to her feet, somehow mostly unharmed even while among the rubble. She was pretty sure that her shoulder had dislocated with the force of her body hitting the ground, but that was a minor inconvenience at best. She looked among the rubble among her, searching for a sign of Ransom. He had knocked her out of the way of some falling detritus, but he couldn't have landed too far away. She began to clear out the rubble around where she thought he might be, though it was slow going with only one arm until Jet moved over to join her.</p>
<p>It took them a while to find Peter, buried under the rubble as he was. He was out cold, which worried Vespa, especially when added to the fact that he had been underneath some sizable pieces of rubble. He didn't respond at first when Jet managed to get enough room to lift him out from among the detritus and towards a clearer part of the street. A few passers-by attempted to approach them to offer help, but Vespa's scowl made them stay clear.</p>
<p>"It appears as though the local police force and emergency services are approaching," Jet pointed out, looking further down the road where sirens could be heard and flashing lights were just barely in sight.</p>
<p>Vespa quickly surveyed the area around them before stalking off in the direction of their rendezvous spot with the Carte Blanche, away from the approaching officers. They had only just barely moved out of the area when Peter twitched in Jet's arms.</p>
<p>"Jet?" He slurred, his eyebrows pulling into a confused frown as he spoke. Jet paused and peered down at Peter.</p>
<p>"Have you regained use of your faculties?" Jet asked him calmly.</p>
<p>Peter blinked up at him, his eyes blank and somehow dull. "Gonna be sick," he slurred and both Vespa and Jet leaped into action, Jet placing Peter on the ground and Vespa helping to move him into an upright position. It wasn't long before he was only dry heaving and the only thing that stopped him from collapsing into the puddle in front of him was two sets of hands pulling him gently backwards instead.</p>
<p>"This doesn't look good," Vespa rasped. She looked over at Jet. "It's possible he has some type of head wound or internal bleeding somewhere."</p>
<p>"Is he stable enough to last the trip to the Carte Blanche without treatment?" Jet asked.</p>
<p>Vespa grimaced. "I'm not sure. The head injury I can only do so much about anyway, but I am concerned about the internal bleeding. Depending on where it is, he might be worse off than he looks."</p>
<p>She moved to crouch down next to Ransom, away from the vomit. "Ransom," she said softly, "I need to look at your abdomen." Without waiting for permission, she managed to push Peter's shirt aside, wincing at the dark purple bruise that covered about half of his stomach. She glanced over at the puddle of vomit and was relieved to see no sign that he had thrown up any blood. Not yet, at least. She looked up to see Peter looking down at his bruise as well. She frowned as she placed a hand on each side of his face, using one hand to cover and uncover his eyes to check his pupillary reflex. They reacted to the change in light unevenly, causing Vespa's frown to deepen. She rose from her crouch and looked over at Jet. "He likely has a concussion, and probably some internal bleeding as well." Her mouth twisted into a grimace. "He can survive that for a bit, but it won't be comfortable and we should hurry if we don't want him getting worse."</p>
<p>Jet nodded at her and as one they turned to look at Peter, staring dazedly up at them. Peter didn't seem to make any move to be sick again, and so Jet picked him back up in a bridal carry. The trio moved at a slightly faster pace than before, though now that Peter was more conscious, they had to stop for him to be sick twice more, the last time bringing up what looked like coffee grounds. Vespa had seen it and paled, telling Jet to get moving again as soon as it seemed like Peter was through with this round of vomiting.</p>
<p>Thankfully it wasn't long after that when the Carte Blanche finally came into their view. The main entry door opened long before they reached it, Buddy, Juno, and Rita waiting at the entrance.</p>
<p>"Miss Vespa, Mistah Jet, Mistah Ransom!" Rita exclaimed with delight from where she stood, practically bouncing in place. In Jet's arms, Peter flinched lightly at the sound, curling farther into his hold.</p>
<p>"Perhaps we should save the celebrations for another time," Jet said softly as they drew up at the doorway.</p>
<p>"What happened to Mistah Ransom?" Rita asked in a slightly quieter tone, though it wasn't far below her regular volume.</p>
<p>"He's got internal bleeding and probably a concussion from that blast," Vespa explained, stepping closer to Jet and Peter. "We need to get him to the medbay."</p>
<p>"Vespa, what in the world even happened down there?" Buddy demanded as she followed Jet and Vespa down the hall. "Things seemed to be going well enough, and then suddenly the earpieces cut out and it was only Rita's quick thinking that allowed us to learn of the building's collapse, but it's been hours without contact since then."</p>
<p>"Someone else planted that explosive," Vespa explained as they reached the medbay and Jet placed Peter down gently on one of the cots as Vespa busied herself with grabbing supplies.</p>
<p>"Vespa and the thief were nearly out of the building when it came down. Our earpieces must have been ruined in the blast or subsequent collapse," Jet explained.</p>
<p>Buddy looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but Vespa already had the body scanner out, and was more focused on determining where Peter was bleeding from. He must have passed out at some point in between arriving at the Carte Blanche and Jet placing him down in the medbay.</p>
<p>"Is he--" Juno started, in a much softer voice than usual from where he was hovering at the back of the group, still in the doorway. "Is he going to be okay?"</p>
<p>"He will be," Vespa replied, looking up from her scans to lock eyes with him. "As long as you lot let me do my job."</p>
<p>With a look from Vespa, Juno and Rita cleared out of the room, Rita placing a comforting arm around his waist as they exited. Jet met Vespa's eyes and nodded once before leaving the room as well. That left Vespa and Buddy alone in the medbay with the unconscious Peter.</p>
<p>Buddy stayed silent for a long moment as she watched Vespa complete her diagnostics, locating the spot where Peter's internal bleeding was coming from before setting up the anesthesia machine for the small surgery. She was done prepping and had started in on fixing the bleed when Buddy finally spoke up.</p>
<p>"I thought I had lost you," she said, her voice softer and more hesitant than usual. Her mouth twisted into a bitter expression as she added, "Again. I thought I had lost you again, and I just..." Buddy broke off when her voice started to crack with emotion.</p>
<p>Vespa only managed not to look up at her from her very delicate task because of years of practice. Distractions during a surgery could mean that someone died. And though she may not have fully trusted Ransom, she trusted Juno well enough, and beyond that, she trusted Buddy to make the right decisions. She wasn't going to let Ransom bleed out when there was something she could do to stop it, no matter how much she wanted to look at Buddy's face in that moment.</p>
<p>"I came back to you. I'll always come back to you " Vespa rasped, and she hoped that Buddy could hear the utter conviction in her voice. "Not even death itself could stop me." With the bleeding finally stopped, Vespa was free to look up at Buddy and see the love on her face that was hopefully echoed in her own expression.</p>
<p>A smile stretched its way across Buddy's face as she stepped closer to Vespa. "Of course you would," she said, pressing a gentle and chaste kiss to Vespa's lips. Vespa's hands came up slightly as if to grip at Buddy, before realizing that she still wore a pair of bloody gloves. With a wince, she tossed them to the floor and moved to pull Buddy in closer for another kiss. They pulled back from the kiss gasping for air as if coming up from underwater. Vespa looked at Buddy and then away, feeling a little like looking at her expression was like looking at the sun. As she looked away, her eyes caught on the anesthesia machine. Before getting distracted by Buddy, she had managed to turn off the anesthesia itself on autopilot, keeping Peter on the oxygen as he would wake up slowly and in mild pain. She shook her head slightly and stepped away from Buddy, moving to grab a syringe of pain medication she had prepped beforehand and administering it to Peter. She and Buddy were quiet as Peter slowly woke up from the procedure, finding it enough to simply lean on one another, their hands intertwined.</p>
<p>The quiet lasted until Juno and Rita both poked their heads into the medbay, their sharp and discordant exclamations of excitement breaking the silence that had stretched to cover Jet's presence as well, hovering in a corner of the medbay, watching the monitors Vespa had set up on Peter intently. Juno wasted little time in rushing over to Peter's bedside, their hands clasping together like the opposite poles of two magnets despite Peter's obvious weakness. Vespa watched the two of them, joined quickly by Rita, for a long moment before sighing heavily and heading for the door, Buddy pulled along in her wake by their joined hands.</p>
<p>Juno caught Vespa's eyes as she reached the door and nodded once, which Vespa took to be his gratitude. She had just been doing her job, but she supposed the acknowledgement was nice.</p>
<p>"Hey Steel," Vespa called out right before she crossed the threshold, Buddy stopping on the other side. "When Ransom is more awake, tell him not to get caught in any more explosions."</p>
<p>Juno's surprised expression pulled into a smirk as he visibly rolled his eye. "Yeah, sure Vespa."</p>
<p>With that said, Vespa turned and followed Buddy out of the room, letting the door close behind her.</p>
<p>Buddy was grinning mischievously at her, and Vespa couldn't help the swell of love that rose up in her chest. "If I didn't know you better darling, I'd say you actually seemed to care for our Pete."</p>
<p>Vespa's face twisted into a grimace. "It's a good thing you do know me better then."</p>
<p>Buddy hummed ambiguously and Vespa narrowed her eyes at her. She growled and lunged toward Buddy, scooping her up into a bridal carry easily. Buddy giggled in delight as Vespa carried her to the bedroom they shared before dropping her lightly onto the bed.</p>
<p>"You... you might be right about the thing you said earlier," Vespa said as she stood over Buddy, leaning down to fix a hair that had fallen out of place. Buddy grinned up at her, placing a gentle hand on her cheek. "But if you tell any of the others I said that, I'll deny it."</p>
<p>Buddy giggled once more before leaning up to press a kiss to Vespa's lips. "I know, dearheart. I certainly know better than to do that."</p>
<p>"Good. Now I'm tired of thinking about Ransom. I've been doing that all day."</p>
<p>"I'm sure I can think of something else to occupy your mind," Buddy said wickedly, pulling Vespa down for another kiss.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i'm too tired for end notes. it will probably be a bit before my next fill.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>You can come send me some requests at lurking-umbra on tumblr if you would like to see more! I have a few there already that I will be cross posting over the next few days.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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